Bhima-Koregaon cases to be quashed

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has decided to withdraw all cases of rioting, except the serious ones, in connection with the violence at Bhima-Koregaon in Pune district on January 1. However, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Opposition leaders remained mum over the fate of one of the main accused — Sambhaji alias Manohar Bhide - in the state legislative council.Sources say there is tacit agreement between the Treasury benches and the Opposition - Congress and the NCP - to spare Bhide and take action against other accuseds, including Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote.Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday that a committee will be set under the Additional Director General (Law and Order) to scrutinise aRead full story

ll 622 cases involving 1,199 accused in the Bhima-Koregaon incident. “The committee will submit its report in three months,” Fadnavis said, adding, “However, cases will not be withdrawn against history-sheeters and regular offenders. Besides, we will also compensate - up to Rs 13 crore - for damage to property.” Fadnavis said a detailed inquiry of the incident was carried out by retired judge Justice JN Patel. Coming to Ekbote, Fadnavis said the Supreme Court has granted him conditional bail, however they are trying to cancel it. “We have even engaged the Attorney General of the central government in apex court so that we can get custodial to interrogate Ekbote. We will not spare any one,” the chief minister added.The state also plans to take over the Sambhaji Maharaj memorial in Vadhu and build a Bhima-Koregaon Dalit memorial to commemorate the Dalit victory against the Peshwas in 1818. “We will buy additional land at both Vadhu Budruk and Bhima Koregaon and both will be developed by the state government,” Fadnavis said. The Chief Minister also that the Elgar Parishad in Pune also played a major role in provoking the sentiments of the people. Gujarat’s social activist Jignesh Mewani and former president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union Kanaiya Kumar had given speeches at Elgar Parishad.Commenting on why Chief Secretary Sumit Mallick was part of the judicial inquiry commission, Fadnavis said that the 26/11 terrorist attack probe revealed that there is tremendous administrative work in judicial probes and a lot of government paperwork is also involved. “If a senior bureaucrat is part of the team, the probe becomes easier,” he said. “Therefore, with the consent of the Bombay High Court, we appointed the chief secretary. And no one should doubt Mallick’s impeccable credentials - his uncle was instrumental in sending Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar to the drafting committee. Mallick himself is a Ambedkaraite scholar.”

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